Staffordshire paramedics could give antibiotics to ease pressure on A&E
Paramedics could be given powers to prescribe antibiotics to patients on the doorstep in a move to reduce pressure on besieged A&E departments.
It could be brought in across Staffordshire, which is still battling the after affects of the overnight closure of Stafford A&E.
Ambulance crews in some parts of the county are also not reaching people in good time. Health boss Andrew Tanner, assistant to the director of operations on Stafford and Surrounds Clinical Commissioning Group, confirmed that talks had taken place with West Midlands Ambulance Service about plans for paramedics to be able to prescribe four types of antibiotics at the scene of an incident.
"We are looking at the wider role of paramedics and whether they should be able to prescribe on scene," Mr Tanner said. "Staffordshire is leading the way here.
"It will mean more people will able to be treated at the scene without going to A&E needlessly. It will have a number of benefits to patients and on response times."
CCG chair Dr Anne-Marie Houlder said: "If that's going to happen it shows patients did not need a paramedic in the first place. But it will be better than going to hospital and better for the patient."
Ambulance service spokesman Jamie Arrowsmith said: "It was discussed prior to winter, but we have had no suggestion from the CCGs that it is something they want to proceed with.
"Even if a decision was made to go ahead, there would be an extremely lengthy process to go through to allow it to happen, including where the funding would come from, how, when and where training would take place – as well as who would fund the training – there would also have to be clinical governance carried out."
Latest performance figures show that in February in Stafford and the surrounding area, only 71 per cent of people with severe life-threatening conditions such as cardiac arrest were reached within an eight-minute target by ambulance crews – 25 out of 35 patients. The required standard is 75 per cent.
The same benchmark applies for less serious situations, such as fits and stroke, but out of 665 patients only 439 were reached within eight minutes – 66 per cent.
But for the first time since August, Crews did meet the target for arriving to 95 per cent of all patients within 19 minutes.
